Well, when I came to work in the UK, I thought it would be quite easy. After all, we speak the same language, don’t we? Well, kind of, but there are a lot of differences in vocabulary. For example a car park is what we call a parking lot. And I got quite confused when I was given directions to my office because I didn’t know what a lift was – it’s an elevator in the US. Then at lunchtime the confusion continued. In the US we use the word ‘chips’ for the thin slices of fried potato which come in a packet. So I was very surprised when I asked for chips with my sandwich and they gave me French fries! Apparently I should have asked for ‘crisps’. But it isn’t just different vocabulary though; it’s also the way we talk. Americans are much more direct, I think. When a Brit says ‘We have a bit of a problem.’ they don’t actually mean it’s a small problem at all. And when you ask them how they are, Brits will often say ‘fine thanks’, when really they’re not OK at all! The worst misunderstanding though was when I didn’t understand what had happened when they told me a colleague had been given the sack. I thought it was some kind of game, but he’d actually been fired, he’d lost his job!
Гуру Песен